Inhaler



(No Model.)

T. B. an H. WILGOX.

4 INHALBR. l No. 552,600. Patented Jan. 7, 1896.

W-m- I ANDREW B.GRAH^M PKUTULFMQWASHINGTDN, |10.

llNrrn Fries,

TI-IEODORE B. VILCOX AND HENRY VILCOX, OF NEWARK, NEV JERSEY.

INHALER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 552,600, dated January *7, 189e. Appiicanon had March 14, 1894. serial No. 503,537. da maar.)

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known thatwe, THEODORE BNVILCOX and HENRY WILCOX, citizens of the United States, residing at Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Inhalers and Friction Appliances; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

O ur present inhaler is designed to serve both as a device which permits the user to inhale the odors of menthol or any other selected aromatic or medicinal salt without exposing the aromatic substance, and as a device which admits of applying the menthol or other aromatic substance to the forehead or to any other part of the body. For this purpose the salt is made into a cake or stick and is secured in this hard form within a casing, which, however, has a suitable vent or air-passage all the way through it, so that the odors of the inclosed salt can be readilyT inhaled without opening the casing. On the other hand, if the person using the inhaler desires to apply the salt to some part of his body he has only to operate the two parts of the casing upon a hinge, whereupon the menthol will be exposed and held in a position well suited for making the proper application, and this without removing any part of the casing, such as a cap or other detachable piece.

Ve are aware that menthol candles have been inclosed in tubes and provided with caps to cover the portions which project beyond the tubes; butwthis arrangement is unsatisfactory, both because the cap is liable to get lost and the packing which holds the candle in the tube is liable to become loosened and let the candle fall out. p

Our invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is an elevation of our improved inhaler seen from the rear. Fig. 2 is an elevation of the same seen vfrom the front. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of our improved inhaler as it appears when opened. Fig. 4 is a detail showing in elevation the part which holds our stick or cake of menthol, and Fig. 5 illustrates the vent on an enlarged scale.

In the drawings, 1 represents one part of -stops 5 5 upon the said ends.

our improved inhaler, or rather of the casing thereof, 'and 2 represents the other part, the parts being identical in shape and appearance and being joined together by a hinge 3.

The shape illustratedin the drawings may be greatly varied without departing from our invention. The two parts of the casing are narrowed down at their opposite ends and brought into circular shape and supplied with caps il et, which are riveted to the ends of the parts land 2 and adapted to be turned upon the said rivets by applying the thumb and iinger to the rims of the said caps. To assist in turning caps the rims are milled or roughened. The said caps are cut away on opposite sides to correspond to the ends of the parts l and 2, which are similarly out through. The movement of the caps upon the ends of the parts l and 2 is limited in either direction by little The arrangement is such that when the caps are turned to the limit of their movement in one direction the holes in the said caps correspond to the holes in the ends of the parts l and 2; but when they are turned to the limit of their movement in the opposite direction the holes in the caps correspond to the solid portions of the said ends, and vice versa. In the former case there is a free air-passage through the entire inhaler, and in the latter case there is no such passage. It will be understood that the caps may be operated independently, so

that there may be an air-inlet at one end of the inhaler and not at the other.

The menthol or other salt having been formed into a cake or stick is attached in any suitable manner to the plate or button 7, from which an. arm 8 extends, the said `arm being perforated and permitting the axis 9 of the hinge 3 to pass through it. Outside the hinge 3 the arm 8 is provided with an extension l0, which is adapted to be held between the parts 1 and 2 when they are brought into the position illustrated in Fig. S-that is to say, when the inhaler is open. In this way the extension serves to steady the button 7 and enables the user of the inhaler, by grasping the parts l and 2y and holding them together, to apply the menthol upon the button 7 to any part of the body and to employ as much rubbing or friction as may be necessary.

ln using our inhaler for the ordinary pur- IOO poses of such a device one will simply turn the caps so as to leave a free air-passage through the inhaler, and then inhale in the usual manner from either end of the device. It is manifest that the inhaler can be applied in this way either to the mouth or to the nostrils. In case a less draft of the aroma is desired only one of the caps may be set so as to open a passage into the interior oi the inhaler.

IVe claiml. A combination inhaler and friction appliance7 in which the aromatic or medicinal salt is supported on a plate or button, and a two-part casing incloses the said plate or button, the said two parts being attached to each other by a flexible joint.

2. A combination inhaler and friction appliance in which the aromatic or medicinal salt is supported upon a plate or button and a two-part casing incloses the said button7 the said two parts being hinged together.

3. In a combined inhaler and frictional appliance, the combination with a two-part hinged casing, of a plate or button for supporting the aromatic or medicinal salt inclosed within said casing, and means attached to the button for maintaining it in a rigid position when used as a friction appliance.

e'. A combination inhaler and friction appliance in which thc aromatic or medicinal salt is supported upon a suitable button inside the casing ot' the inhaler, the said casing being formed in two parts hinged together and having suitable Vents.

In testimony whereof we have signed our i names, in the presence of two witnesses, this 27th day of February, A. D. 180i.

THEODORE B. WILCOX. HENRY WILCOX. .Vitnosses:

GUsTAVE LEFoRT, G. ll. S'rocKBRIDcE. 

